Documentary Educational Resources - Filmmaker / Mendel, Tommi / All Films

Common Roads

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

While the label of 'pilgrim' is still mostly associated with devout persons leaving home with purely religious motives, young people taking to the road as 'backpackers' are generally perceived as adventure seeking globetrotters. Questioning these stereotypes, anthropologist and filmmaker Tommi Mendel followed two young women, one along the Way of St. James — a centuries old pilgrimage route — through France and Spain, and another backpacking through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Documenting their experiences and encounters over a period of three years, this film reveals intriguing parallels between what at first glance appear as two different ways of traveling.

Common Roads is Tommi Mendel's PhD-thesis accepted by the University of Zurich and was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Visit Mendel, Tommi to see additional products in this category.

Walking Pilgrims

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:26:00 GMT

Walking Pilgrims
Buy Now: $320.00

For a great number of people, the main motive for undertaking a pilgrimage consists of the journey itself - wandering along a path leading away from the familiar place and at the same time leading towards oneself. The road movie and documentary Walking Pilgrims (Arukihenro) focuses on today's Japanese wandering pilgrims, as they undertake the 88 Temples' Pilgrimage that circles the Japanese island of Shikoku.

Over 1000 years old, the Shikoku Henro connects 88 predetermined sacred places along a 1400 km route that circles Japan's fourth largest island, Shikoku. The pilgrimage follows the path of the holy monk Kobo Daishi (774-835), founder of Japanese Shingon Buddhism, who is said to have attained enlightenment on his ascetic wanderings through the prefectures of Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime, and Kagawa.

Despite the increasing secularization of Japanese society, the 88 Temples' Pilgrimage retains its popularity. Besides the huge crowds of bus and taxi tours that make up about 99% of the pilgrims, there are still a few walkers who undertake the entire pilgrimage in 40 to 60 days on foot. From youth at loose ends in Japan's changing economy to elderly people for whom walking the pilgrimage has been a lifelong dream, these pilgrims walk for a variety of reasons, but all find a common ground in the soothing rituals of the pilgrimage.

Walking Pilgrims (Arukihenro) was shot over a period of nine months, while the filmmakers themselves hiked along the entire route. Using ethnographic methods, the film investigates the motivations of today's pilgrims, with input from priests, academic experts, and Shikoku residents. Using the pilgrimage as its starting point, Walking Pilgrims (Arukihenro) gives insight into the religious and socio-cultural roots of contemporary Japanese society.

"...Walking Pilgrims (Arukihenro) is an absorbing and intriguing journey into the inner lives of Japanese people today, and is an excellent representation of the complex and contradictory soul of modern Japan." -- Peter Matanle, Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Bilan du Film Ethnographique, Paris, France, 2007
Worldfilm Festival of Visual Culture, Tartu, Estonia, 2007
NAFA Nordic Anthropological Film Association Festival, Trondheim, Norway, 2007
RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film, Manchester, UK, 2007
Parnu International Documentary Film Festival, Parnu, Estonia, 2007
Scientific Film Festival, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan, 2008
Days of Ethnographic Film, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2008
ETNOFILM Cadca 2008, Cadca, Slovakia
Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2009
T.H.I.S. Buddhist Film Festival, Singapore, 2009

Visit Mendel, Tommi to see additional products in this category.

Bunong's Birth Practices

Thu, 26 Jul 2018 09:36:00 GMT

Bunong's Birth Practices
Buy Now: $320.00

On the basis of a social anthropological case study, this film documents the birth practices of the Bunong in Mondulkiri province, located in the northeast of Cambodia. Social, economic, and political changes are transforming the province tremendously and are affecting villagers' beliefs, perceptions and habits regarding pregnancy, delivery and early motherhood. Traditional midwives, pregnant women, mothers and their families give a personal insight into their present decision-making strategies, which are at the crossroads between tradition and modernity.

Visit Mendel, Tommi to see additional products in this category.